Hammock



(No Model.)

' s, SANDERS.

HAMMOGK.

No. 419,361. 4 Patented Jan. 14, 1890.

,, w Flg-wnc -v WITNESSES: v l/VVE/l/TOH ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

SIDNEY SAN DERS,'OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

HAMMOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 419,361, dated January14, 1890.

Application filed April 4, 1889. Serial No. 306,020. (No model.) v

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SIDNEY SANDERS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Springfield, Hampden county, Massachusetts, have made andinvented anew and useful Improvement in Hammocks, of which the principalfeature is the combination of three cross-bars with the bed andsuspensory ropes in such a manner as to divide the hammock into twoparts, a main or body part and an adjustable foot-rest, the objectthereof being to provide a hammock in which the occupant may lie in aneasy natural position, the head above and the feet below the centralportions of the body, and which may be converted, if desired, into areclining-chair. I

The following is aspecification of my invention, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, in which like numbers mark like parts, and inwhich- Figure I-is a perspective view of my imv proved hammock; Fig. II,a sectional plan of the same, showing the arrangement and connections ofthe bed, cross-bars, and suspensory ropes; Fig. III, an edge elevationof the lastnamed arranged in a horizontal plane, the ropes and barsdetached to illustrate the loops for receiving the cross-bars; Fig. IV,a crossbar detached from the bed and sectioned at each end, illustratingone method of attaching the suspensory ropes; Fig. V, another sectionalView of a cross-bar, showing at 12 how the suspensory ropes may beattached to the bars by winding around and tying and at 16 how suchropes may be fastened by nailing; Fig. VI, an edge elevation of thehammock, showing the relative positions of the hammock and foot-rest aseffected by moving the bar 5; and Fig. VII, a perspective view of thehammock converted into a reclining-chair.

In carrying out my invention I provide a bed 1, of any suitablematerial, and this bed I provide with loops 2, 3, and 4, arranged one ateach end and the other near the middle, as shown in Fig. III. I preferto form such loops at the ends of the bed by turning over and securelystitching or fastening the material as if forming wide hems, and nearthe middle by making and securing a double or N-shaped fold for thecentral loop 3. The loops may also be formed by sewing separate stripsof suitable material to the bed at proper points, or they may be quitedispensed with and I further provide the cross-bars 5, 6, and

7 and the suspensory ropes 8 and 9. I make the cross-bars of a sizeadapted to enter the loops 2, 3, and 4 and of alength a little greater;than the Width of the bed 1.

To connect the suspensory ropes to the bars 6 and 7, I prefer to providesuch bars with perforations near each end, and, passing the ropes therethrough, the bars are subtended and supported by the ropes, asillustrated in case of rope 9, Fig. II, and in Fig. IV. I prefer to makethese perforations oppositely inclined to the bar, as shown in Fig. II,as this facilitates the adjustment of the ropes; but they may be made atright angles to the longitudinal line of the bars, as shown at 11, Fig.IV, or they maybe dispensed with and the ropes wound and tied around thebars, as at 12, Fig. V, or nailed thereto, as at 16, Fig. V, or they maybe attached thereto by any other suitable means. I connect the bar 5 tothe rope 8 in such a manner as to form an adjustable foot-rest 14. Toaccomplish this I do not connect the bar permanently to the rope, butmake it movable thereon, so it may be shoved to and from the bar 6,whereby the rest is made deeper or shallower at the desire-of theoccupant. In carrying out this part of my invertio'n I prefer to formthe adjustable connection by passing the rope 8 through theoppositely-inclined perforations in bar 5, as shown in Fig. II, and thenwhen no one is in the hammock the bar 5 may be readily moved to and froon the rope 8, so as to raise and lower the foot-rest 14, as shown inFig. VI, the main lines showing the position of the hammock andfootrest, the bar 5 at nearly itsgreatest distance from bar 6, while thedotted lines show the position of the hammock and foot-rest when the bar5 is at 5, and when the holes in the bar 5 are arranged as shown in Fig.II the weight of a person in the hammock, drawing the suspensoryropesltaut, causes such bar to catch or bite on the rope, and somaintain the position of the foot-rest 14. In other words, this positionof the holes and arrangement of the rope in bar 5 is equivalent to anautomatic fastening to hold the foot-rest at any given point; but theperforations in bar 5 may be at right angles to its longitudinal line,as at 11, Fig. IV, and so parallel to each other, or they may beentirely dispensed with and the bar connected to the rope 8 by cords orother suitable means, which may be nnfastened, the bar moved, and theposition of the foot-rest changed at the will of the occupant.

To form a chair of the hammock, the head end of the bed is simplyhitched higher, the foot end lower, and the bar 5 shoved back againstthe bar (5, the foot-rest forming a curtain to the chair-seat, as shownin Fig. VII.

In practice I prefer to provide the crossbars with holes and pass theropes through such holes and along the bars, so that the ropes willextend through the bedloops, as shown in Fig. II, bar 7. By this means,if a bar break, the hammock will not fall. I also prefer to have theends of the ropes at the hook and each end provided with a ring orfastening, as shown at 15 15, Fig. II. By this arrangement both ends ofthe rope may be hung on the same hook,allowing the hammock to swing, oron different hooks at some distance apart, so as to steady the hammockand prevent the swinging. Again, the ropes may be so arranged as to bewhole at the hook and the ends brought inside and nailed to the bar, asshown at 13,Fig. II. The crossbars 5, 6, and 7 being inserted in theloops 2, 3 and at and the suspensory ropes being arranged and connectedas above described, or by any suitable means, the hammock hung in theusual manner. The best effect is obtained by hanging the head endconsiderably higher than the foot and placing the books orsuspension-posts well apart, so as to give the hammock a long freeswing.

Thus, having described my improved hammock, what I claim as new is 1.I11 a hammock, the combination of a hammock-body, the transverse barspermanently attached to the ends and to the middle substantially, asuspending-cord attached to the cross-bar at one end of the hammockbody,and a suspending-cord attached to the middle erossbar and adjustablyconnected with the cross-bar at the other end, whereby one end of thehammock is adjustable to and from the middle cross-bar.

2. In a hammock, the bed or body 1, having permanently attached theretoat one end the cross-bar 5, at the other end the crossbar 7 and near themiddle the cross-bar 6, in combination with the suspending-rope 9,permanently attached to the bar 7, and the suspending-rope S,permanently attached to the bar 6 and adj nstably connected with the bar5 by passing through oppositely-inclined holes near the ends of the barlast named, as specified.

SIDNEY SANDERS.

Witnesses:

STEPHEN E. SEYMOUR, ALLEN WEBSTER.

